Bonham in 100 Words

Why do the drums in “When the Levee Breaks” catapult us into a state of raw vulnerability? How does Bonham bypass the intellect and plunge so deftly into the visceral? How are his drum sticks so methodically violent and poetic? At times, his drums are begging for mercy, but they’re sadistically locked in a codependent relationship. And we, the hypnotized voyeurs, beg for sustenance, locked in the throes of a ventriloquial grip. We’re willing to let his brilliance seduce us because the euphoria is worth the recognition that we are at his mercy, that we are less than, and that the artist is immortal.